Nearly Half of Global Consumers Now Use AI for Financial Decisions: What EY's 2026 Survey Means for UK Businesses

EY's April 2026 consumer research has revealed a watershed moment in financial services: 48% of global consumers now use artificial intelligence to guide their savings and investment decisions. This isn't a marginal shift—it's a fundamental transformation in how people interact with their money, and it has profound implications for UK businesses across financial services, fintech, accounting, and wealth management.

Released on 24 April 2026, the survey marks a tipping point where AI-driven financial guidance has moved from early adopter territory into mainstream consumer behaviour. For UK businesses, this means the competitive landscape has fundamentally changed: customers now expect intelligent, personalised financial guidance as standard, not as a premium feature.

What the EY Survey Reveals

The headline figure—48% of consumers using AI for financial decisions—tells only part of the story. This represents a dramatic acceleration from even 12 months ago, when AI-driven financial tools were still considered niche products used primarily by tech-savvy millennials and Gen Z investors.

The research indicates that consumers are using AI across the full spectrum of financial decision-making:

• Savings optimisation: AI tools analyse spending patterns and automatically move funds to savings accounts based on predicted cash flow
• Investment selection: Robo-advisers and AI-powered platforms recommend portfolio allocations based on risk tolerance, goals, and market conditions
• Budgeting and expense management: Intelligent systems categorise transactions, identify spending patterns, and suggest budget adjustments
• Financial planning: AI models project long-term financial scenarios for retirement, education funding, and major purchases

What's particularly striking is the breadth of adoption across demographics. This isn't just younger consumers—the survey suggests AI financial tools have achieved mainstream acceptance across age groups, income levels, and financial sophistication.

Why This Matters for UK Financial Services

For UK businesses operating in or adjacent to financial services, this shift represents three critical imperatives:

1. Customer Expectations Have Permanently Changed

When nearly half of consumers use AI for financial decisions, those who don't are increasingly aware that these tools exist. The expectation gap is widening rapidly. Customers now expect:

• Real-time, personalised financial insights, not quarterly statements
• Proactive recommendations based on their unique circumstances
• Conversational interfaces that explain complex financial concepts in plain English
• Integration across their entire financial ecosystem, not siloed products

UK banks, building societies, IFAs, accountancy firms, and fintech startups that still rely on traditional service models face a stark choice: integrate AI capabilities or watch customers migrate to competitors who have.

2. The Advisory Model Is Being Disrupted

Traditional financial advisory—whether for investments, pensions, mortgages, or business finance—has operated on a high-touch, relationship-driven model. AI isn't eliminating that model, but it's fundamentally changing the value proposition.

Consumers now expect AI to handle routine guidance and optimisation, freeing human advisers to focus on complex scenarios, behavioural coaching, and life event planning. The businesses that thrive will be those that augment human expertise with AI capabilities, not those that resist the change.

For UK businesses, this means rethinking service delivery:

• Accountancy firms can use AI to automate bookkeeping and tax calculations, focusing human expertise on strategic business advice
• Mortgage brokers can deploy AI to pre-qualify applicants and identify optimal products, spending face time on complex cases
• Wealth managers can use AI for portfolio rebalancing and market monitoring, reserving adviser time for goal planning and behavioural guidance

3. Data Integration Becomes a Competitive Advantage

AI financial tools are only as good as the data they can access. The most effective platforms integrate data from multiple sources: bank accounts, credit cards, investments, pensions, property valuations, and more.

For UK businesses, this creates both an opportunity and a challenge. Those that can aggregate customer data across touchpoints—while maintaining rigorous data protection standards under UK GDPR—will deliver superior AI-driven experiences. Those that operate in silos will struggle to compete.

This is where workflow automation platforms like n8n, Zapier, and Make become critical business infrastructure. They enable financial services firms to connect disparate systems, aggregate customer data, and feed AI models without expensive custom development.

The Automation Opportunity for UK Businesses

While the EY survey focuses on consumer behaviour, the implications for business operations are equally significant. If consumers expect AI-driven financial guidance, businesses must deploy AI-powered automation at scale.

This is where FlairCross's expertise in workflow automation becomes particularly relevant. UK financial services firms need to:

Connect legacy systems to modern AI platforms: Most UK financial institutions run on a patchwork of legacy core banking systems, CRM platforms, and compliance tools. Workflow automation enables these systems to feed data to AI models and receive actionable outputs without rip-and-replace migrations.

Automate data enrichment and compliance: AI financial tools require clean, structured, up-to-date data. Automation workflows can continuously enrich customer records, validate data quality, and maintain audit trails for FCA compliance.

Orchestrate customer journeys across channels: When AI recommends a financial action—like increasing pension contributions or refinancing a mortgage—the business needs automated workflows to trigger the right next steps: sending personalised communications, scheduling adviser calls, or initiating product applications.

Integrate AI agents with CRM systems: As AI moves from passive tools to active agents, businesses need these agents connected to systems like HubSpot CRM. An AI agent that identifies a customer at risk of missing savings goals should automatically create tasks for relationship managers, trigger email sequences, or schedule check-in calls.

What UK Businesses Should Do Now

The EY survey makes clear that AI-driven financial guidance is no longer emerging—it's arrived. UK businesses that haven't yet developed an AI strategy for customer-facing financial services are already behind the curve.

Here's what forward-thinking organisations should prioritise:

Audit your current capabilities: Where do you already use AI or automation in customer financial guidance? Where are the gaps between what customers expect and what you deliver?

Identify quick wins: Don't attempt to build an AI-powered financial platform from scratch. Start with high-impact use cases: automated savings recommendations, intelligent budgeting tools, or AI-enhanced customer support for financial queries.

Invest in data infrastructure: AI is only as good as your data. Prioritise data integration, quality, and governance. Workflow automation platforms can accelerate this without requiring massive IT projects.

Partner with specialists: Building AI and automation capabilities in-house is expensive and slow. UK businesses should consider partnerships with consultancies like FlairCross that specialise in deploying these technologies for financial services.

Prepare for regulatory evolution: The FCA is watching AI adoption in financial services closely. Businesses need to balance innovation with robust governance, explainability, and consumer protection.

The Bottom Line

EY's April 2026 survey isn't just a data point—it's a signal that the financial services industry has crossed the AI adoption chasm. Nearly half of consumers now expect AI to guide their financial decisions, and that percentage will only grow.

For UK businesses, the window to respond is narrowing. Those that integrate AI-driven financial guidance, powered by robust automation and data infrastructure, will capture market share. Those that don't will increasingly struggle to meet customer expectations.

The technology to deliver these capabilities exists today. The question is whether your business will deploy it before your competitors do.

If you're ready to explore how AI and workflow automation can transform your financial services offering, get in touch.